Journos on the Run in South Sudan

JUBA, April 7, 2014

The South Sudan government should urgently put measures to enhance the safety and security for journalists and media houses operating in the country, Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) has said. EAJA Secretary General Alexandre Niyungeko said in a statement that the ongoing conflict in South Sudan had put the lives of many journalists in danger and jeopardized the operations of media houses. Niyungeko issued the call following reports that South Sudan’s only private television outlet, the Citizen Television (CTV), had been shut down by its management over fears for the safety of its staff due to the continuing shaky security situation in Juba. “We call on the South Sudan government to improve security for the journalists and media outlets to guarantee media freedom and information flow to the world about the situation in the country and the efforts being made towards the resolution of the conflict,” He said. According to a statement released by the Chief Editor of the Citizen Television (CTV) who also publishes the Citizen newspaper, Nhial Bol, the security situation in Juba remained uncertain, posing a risk to the TV station’s staff. “The station closes at 10pm and when we transport our staff home, we are often subjected to numerous road searches and twice our car was fired at near Jebel Market. We cannot afford to subject our night shift staff to risks,” said Bol. He further explained that they had also decided to stop the distribution of The Citizen newspaper in some areas because new traffic laws discouraged the use of motorbikes due to security concerns in the capital. “One of our distributors, Isaac Amba was seriously hurt last Wednesday when the police beat him with stick while leaving the National Parliament building after delivering papers. He was admitted in Juba Teaching Hospital and is still in bed, recovering,” he added. This is not the first time the CTV and Citizen Newspaper division have shut down operations due to security concerns. In December 2013, the Deputy Editor in Chief of the CTV, Victor Kerry revealed that the company had to close productions of the newspaper for four days as security officers instructed them to put off their generator, claiming it produced noise. South Sudan has faced security challenges since the break out of conflict between the government and rebels led by former Vice President Riek Machar last December.